Cast: Manchu Manoj, Pragya Jaiswal, Rajendra Prasad, Kota Srinivasa Rao Sampath Raj and others.
Director: S.K. Satya
Following the failure of a few experimental scripts, Manchu Manoj is back to regular formula with Gunturodu. S.K. Satya is the director of this film, which also stars Pragya Jaiswal. And as an added incentive for fans, Chiranjeevi provides voiceover for certain parts — making sure there was enough buzz before the movie’s release.
The story takes place in Guntur city. Kanna (Manchu Manoj) is the only son of one Suryanarayana (Rajendra Prasad) and is mostly a care-free guy. But one day, he gets into a fight with a top criminal and powerful lawyer, Seshu (Sampath). Seshu takes the minor tussle to the next level and decides to take revenge on Kanna. But in the meantime, the plotline has progressed to bring in some romance. Kanna falls in love with Amrita (Pragya Jaiswal), who, thanks to the tricks of fate, happens to Seshu’s sister. But her brother has targeted Kanna’s father and the rest of Gunturodu is all about how the hero is able to keep his love, and father, alive.
Director S.K. Satya’s film is good only in parts. When seen as a whole, the flaws are very evident.
For example, the plot is extremely predictive. In an age when several filmmakers are paying much attention to suspense, Satya has thrown that factor out of the window. There’s also an unnecessary amount of focus on silly comedy and Satya fails to create the all-important emotional link between moviegoers and the characters. There’s something missing in Gunturodu and that gap in execution creates several problems.
Manoj’s character-creation too is flawed. Mind you, the dialogues and the body language match perfectly but it’s very different from what the press saw during the movie’s well-crafted promos.
On the other hand, Sampath carries his character perfectly well. He is a proven actor and remains a big asset to cinema. Pragya Jaiswal is just okay and that’s mostly down to the unappealing scenes created around the two lead stars. For Kota Srinivasa Rao, the script is a cakewalk and Rajendra Prasad’s role as Manchu Manoj’s father is good too. There are a few comedians in the movie — Satya, Praveen and others — but their scenes fall short of the mark. A few of the plusses are the background score by Chinna and the well-choreographed action scenes.
That said, these little advantages fail to rescue the whole. Gunturodu suffers due to its predictable script and is almost an anti-septic when it comes to emotions or entertainment.
Except for Manchu Manoj and Sampath’s performances, there are no other redeeming factors.
